Guy walking across road...

[Tristicus]

So last night, I was driving down the road (5 lane road, not highway though). 50mph or so, and all of a sudden I saw two guys walking across the street (one was walking, one still waiting). I didn't see them until I was nearly upon them, and I wouldn't have had time to stop. It was dark, and them being black didn't help...seriously. Regardless, upon seeing them, the man is staring straight at my car walking across the road. He was probably a meter from my car when I passed him.

If I had of hit him, would it have been my fault? Note there was a guy to the left, so I couldn't swerve there, he was walking to the right, so would have hit him anyways, and I didn't see him..they were jaywalking!

 

[bhanson]

So last afternoon, I was driving down the road (5 lane road, not highway though). 50mph or so, and all of a sudden I saw two guys walking across the street (one was walking, one still waiting). I didn't see them until I was nearly upon them, and I wouldn't have had time to stop. It was bright, and them being white didn't help...seriously. Regardless, upon seeing them, the man is staring straight at my car walking across the road. He was probably a meter from my car when I passed him.

If I had of hit him, would it have been my fault? Note there was a guy to the left, so I couldn't swerve there, he was walking to the right, so would have hit him anyways, and I didn't see him..they were jaywalking!

 

[lxskllr]

So last afternoon, I was driving down the road (5 lane road, not highway though). 50mph or so, and all of a sudden I saw two guys walking across the street (one was walking, one still waiting). I didn't see them until I was nearly upon them, and I wouldn't have had time to stop. It was bright, and them being white didn't help...seriously. Regardless, upon seeing them, the man is staring straight at my car walking across the road. He was probably a meter from my car when I passed him.

If I had of hit him, would it have been my fault? Note there was a guy to the left, so I couldn't swerve there, he was walking to the right, so would have hit him anyways, and I didn't see him..they were jaywalking!

Wow! What are the odds the same thing would happen to 2 different people on the same night?

 

[Ika]

So last afternoon, I was driving down the road (5 lane road, not highway though). 50mph or so, and all of a sudden I saw two guys walking across the street (one was walking, one still waiting). I didn't see them until I was nearly upon them, and I wouldn't have had time to stop. It was bright, and them being white didn't help...seriously. Regardless, upon seeing them, the man is staring straight at my car walking across the road. He was probably a meter from my car when I passed him.

If I had of hit him, would it have been my fault? Note there was a guy to the left, so I couldn't swerve there, he was walking to the right, so would have hit him anyways, and I didn't see him..they were jaywalking!

white reflects light, black absorbs it.

 

[BoomerD]

So last night, I was driving down the road (5 lane road, not highway though). 50mph or so, and all of a sudden I saw two guys walking across the street (one was walking, one still waiting). I didn't see them until I was nearly upon them, and I wouldn't have had time to stop. It was dark, and them being black didn't help...seriously. Regardless, upon seeing them, the man is staring straight at my car walking across the road. He was probably a meter from my car when I passed him.

If I had of hit him, would it have been my fault? Note there was a guy to the left, so I couldn't swerve there, he was walking to the right, so would have hit him anyways, and I didn't see him..they were jaywalking!

So many good answers...so many infraction points and "vacation days" to be earned...

 

[lozina]

You'd probably be found at fault. I think that's just the way the pedestrian laws are written. And if you were in court and you mentioned that they were black in your testimony you can forget about it!!

 

[bruceb]

Technically, the pedestrian always has the right of way, even if they are not following safe crossing or walking practices.

 

[Vic Vega]

Technically, the pedestrian always has the right of way, even if they are not following safe crossing or walking practices.

Not where I live. If someone walks out into traffic to make an illegal crossing and there isn't reasonable time or space for the car to stop or avoid the person they are not at fault for hitting them. This is why there are legal crossing areas and all other crossing are technically illegal.

 

[daw123]

You'd probably be found at fault. I think that's just the way the pedestrian laws are written. And if you were in court and you mentioned that they were black in your testimony you can forget about it!!

I would say this is most likely the outcome and reason why.

 

[Eli]

You most likely wouldn't have been at fault if it wasn't a designated crossing.

Especially considering it was dark.

 

[Lizardman]

Similar thing happened to a friend of mine in DE. Except the guy jay walking was riding a bike. He ended up with the guy on the hood of his car. I believe he was going about 40mph. They had to take the guy on the bike to the hospital, and my friend's Insurance automatically paid the hospital bill because he was considered a pedestrian.

In the end my friend had no criminal or civil charges against him and the guy on the bike got a ticket for failure to yield. I think the insurance company got screwed out of most of the money in the end, since they paid to fix the damage to my friend’s car. Kind of similar story, hope it helps.

 

[MikeMike]

You most likely wouldn't have been at fault if it wasn't a designated crossing.

Especially considering they were black.

ftfy.

 

[Kadarin]

Because our laws are written the way they are and because our legal system is set up the way it is, we now have this collective attitude that if anything bad happens to us, we're automatically entitled to large sums of money. Given this, other than immediate personal safety, there is no incentive for pedestrians to do the right thing, look both ways, use crosswalks, etc.

 

[dud]

Because our laws are written the way they are and because our legal system is set up the way it is, we now have this collective attitude that if anything bad happens to us, we're automatically entitled to large sums of money. Given this, other than immediate personal safety, there is no incentive for pedestrians to do the right thing, look both ways, use crosswalks, etc.

Agreed. We live in a country made up of people thinking they are entitled ... but are not. In the OP's case if they were crossing at a designated crossing then he would probably been at fault. If they were not crossing legally they would probably be considered Jaywalking:


"Jaywalking is an informal term commonly used in North America to refer to illegal or reckless pedestrian crossing of a roadway. Examples include a pedestrian crossing between intersections (outside a crosswalk, marked or unmarked) without yielding to drivers and starting to cross a crosswalk at a signalized intersection without waiting for a permissive indication to be displayed. In the United States, state statutes generally reflect the Uniform Vehicle Code in requiring drivers to yield the right of way to pedestrians at crosswalks; at other locations, crossing pedestrians are either required to yield to drivers or, under some conditions, are prohibited from crossing."


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaywalking

 

[Schfifty Five]

Similar thing happened to a friend of mine in DE. Except the guy jay walking was riding a bike. He ended up with the guy on the hood of his car. I believe he was going about 40mph. They had to take the guy on the bike to the hospital, and my friend's Insurance automatically paid the hospital bill because he was considered a pedestrian.

In the end my friend had no criminal or civil charges against him and the guy on the bike got a ticket for failure to yield. I think the insurance company got screwed out of most of the money in the end, since they paid to fix the damage to my friend’s car. Kind of similar story, hope it helps.

Actually, I'd bet your friend got screwed out the most since his insurance rates probably went up from that accident even if he wasn't at fault. Wonder why the insurance company was so eager to foot the bill.

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

I didn't see them until I was nearly upon them, and I wouldn't have had time to stop.

you would be at fault for 'overdriving your headlights" - i doubt thats the correct terminology. Basically, if you were driving slower you would have had more time between when you saw them in your headlights to when when you were able to react.